World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Vice Chair Najib Balala with Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano /HANDOUT
Kenya is ramping up efforts to attract more tourists, create jobs and unlock fresh investments after former Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala returned to engage with the country's tourism sector from a new global platform.
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano on Monday held strategic talks with Balala, now the Executive Vice President of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and the organisation's President and Chief Executive Officer Gloria Guevara.
The meeting centred on strengthening partnerships to boost Kenya's competitiveness as a tourism destination and expand the sector's contribution to the economy.
A key highlight of the discussions was a presentation by the WTTC that assessed Kenya's position within Africa's tourism market and benchmarked the country against competing destinations globally.
According to Miano, the insights will help shape strategies aimed at attracting investment, increasing visitor numbers and strengthening Kenya's position in the international tourism market.
The government now plans to deepen its collaboration with the WTTC by leveraging Kenya's wildlife, cultural heritage and the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sector to drive growth.
The partnership is also expected to support biodiversity conservation while creating new economic opportunities through tourism.
Balala's participation marks a return to a sector he helped shape for more than a decade during his tenure as Tourism Cabinet Secretary.
During that period, he became one of Kenya's most recognisable tourism ambassadors, steering the industry through both growth and challenging periods while aggressively marketing Kenya as a top global destination.
He now returns in a different capacity, occupying a senior leadership position at the WTTC, a global organisation representing private-sector travel and tourism stakeholders.
Tourism remains one of Kenya's biggest foreign exchange earners and a major source of employment, making efforts to attract more visitors and investors central to the country's economic growth agenda.
Miano said Kenya remains well positioned to become a preferred destination for global travellers, adding that stronger international partnerships will help unlock the full potential of the sector.
